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Wrapping up this analysis on tight ends has the chance to be misleading in some cases. When determining the top eight performances against each defense, the reality is that for many it meant only 30 or 40 yards receiving and no scores would still fall into the Top 8 in some cases. Tight ends as a position have great variability as to how they are used by each offense. Some (KC, BAL, NYG, NO) will use them rather extensively while others (PIT, WAS, JAX, CAR) rarely use them.

To complete the set of BTA reviews, review the following but keep in mind what you are truly considering.

There are three measurements with BTA analysis and to the right you can see an example of how it was derived considering all TE performances against the Bills last season.

Better Than Average Sample (BUF defense)

Wk

Tm

QB's against OAK - 2003

FF
Pts

RCV
Yards

RCV
TD's

Rush
Yards

Rush
TDs

Top
8

Top
3

Top
1

6

NYJ

Becht A

16.1

41

2

8

KC

Gonzalez T

12.5

65

1

15

TEN

Kinney E

10.4

44

1

0

0

2

JAX

Wrighster G

8.1

21

1

10

DAL

Campbell D

6.7

7

1

17

NE

Graham D

6.1

1

1

3

MIA

McMichael R

5.7

57

0

2

JAX

Brady K

4.2

42

0

5

CIN

Stewart T

3.5

35

0

10

DAL

Witten J

2.4

24

0

13

NYG

Rivers M

2.2

22

0

1. BTA Top 8 - Shows how many times a TE faced a defense last year and produced a top 8 performance allowed by that defense considering all the TE's they faced in 2003. To the right in yellow are the Top 8 performances against the Bills by a WR using standard performance scoring. Becht, Gonzalez, Kinney, Wrighster, Campbell, Graham, McMichael and Brady would be credited with a Top 8 game.

2. BTA Top 3 - Shows how many times a player faced a defense last year and produced a top 3 performance allowed by that defense for that position. Considering only BUF, only Gonzalez, Becht and Kinney are credited with a Top 3 game.

3. BTA Top 1 - Shows how many times an RB faced a defense last year that produced the BEST performance allowed by that defense for that position. Considering only the Bills' defense, only Becht is credited with a Top 1 game. Realize as well that the best possible score here would be 13 games since each TE would face three teams twice and only one game against a team could be best.

Taking that methodology and applying it to the most inconsistent of the highest scoring positions yields interesting results.

Top 8 performances allowed by defenses faced in 2003

Top 8%

Top 8 Gms

Gms
Played

Top 3 performances allowed by defenses faced in 2003

Top 3%

Top 3 Gms

Gms
Played

NYG

Jeremy Shockey

89%

8

9

NYG

Jeremy Shockey

56%

5

9

KC

Tony Gonzalez

81%

13

16

KC

Tony Gonzalez

50%

8

16

DEN

Shannon Sharpe

80%

12

15

DEN

Shannon Sharpe

33%

5

15

NO

Ernie Conwell

60%

6

10

NO

Boo Williams

33%

5

15

BAL

Todd Heap

56%

9

16

NE

Daniel Graham

31%

4

13

NE

Daniel Graham

54%

7

13

IND

Marcus Pollard

31%

4

13

IND

Marcus Pollard

54%

7

13

SD

Antonia Gates

30%

3

10

ATL

Alge Crumpler

50%

8

16

ATL

Alge Crumpler

25%

4

16

ARI

Freddie Jones

50%

8

16

MIA

Randy McMichael

25%

4

16

MIA

Randy McMichael

50%

8

16

MIN

Jim Kleinsasser

25%

4

16

DET

Mikhael Ricks

47%

7

15

CIN

Matt Schobel

25%

3

12

NO

Boo Williams

47%

7

15

DET

Mikhael Ricks

20%

3

15

DAL

Jason Witten

47%

7

15

IND

Dallas Clark

20%

2

10

SEA

Itula Mili

44%

7

16

SEA

Itula Mili

19%

3

16

PHI

L.J. Smith

43%

6

14

NYJ

Anthony Becht

19%

3

16

IND

Dallas Clark

40%

4

10

TEN

Erron Kinney

19%

3

16

SD

Antonia Gates

40%

4

10

PHI

L.J. Smith

14%

2

14

MIN

Jim Kleinsasser

38%

6

16

GB

Bubba Franks

14%

2

14

SF

Jed Weaver

38%

6

16

BAL

Todd Heap

13%

2

16

GB

Bubba Franks

36%

5

14

ARI

Freddie Jones

13%

2

16

PHI

Chad Lewis

36%

5

14

SF

Jed Weaver

13%

2

16

BUF

Mark Campbell

33%

5

15

HOU

Billy Miller

13%

2

16

CHI

Desmond Clark

33%

5

15

NO

Ernie Conwell

10%

1

10

NYJ

Anthony Becht

31%

5

16

TB

Ken Dilger

8%

1

13

TEN

Erron Kinney

31%

5

16

BAL

Terry Jones

8%

1

13

HOU

Billy Miller

25%

4

16

DAL

Jason Witten

7%

1

15

CIN

Matt Schobel

25%

3

12

BUF

Mark Campbell

7%

1

15

GB

Wesley Walls

25%

3

12

NE

Christian Fauria

7%

1

15

TB

Ken Dilger

23%

3

13

JAX

Kyle Brady

6%

1

16

BAL

Terry Jones

23%

3

13

PHI

Chad Lewis

0%

0

14

NE

Christian Fauria

20%

3

15

CHI

Desmond Clark

0%

0

15

STL

Brandon Manumaleuna

20%

3

15

GB

Wesley Walls

0%

0

12

JAX

Kyle Brady

19%

3

16

STL

Brandon Manumaleuna

0%

0

15

The role of Jeremy Shockey in the Giant's offense cannot be understated. In the nine games he played last year there was only once that he failed to record a Top 8 game against the opposing defense. That's heavy use. Gonzalez naturally also tops out well and the NFL will certainly miss Shannon Sharpe though no one as much as the Denver Broncos offense. Surprisingly Heap did not supply quite as many Top 8 games as would be assumed and Daniel Graham's 54% rate was high and yet his lower numbers reflect the tougher defenses that populate his division.

Very notable in this review was that Ernie Conwell placed Top 8 six times and Boo Williams did it seven times. They are on the same team. Now Williams has surpassed Conwell as the starter and plays for an offense that placed a TE in the Top 8 against opposing defenses 13 times last season.

Given the huge volume of tight ends used against defenses during the season, a better measurement is the Top 3. In a position that a single touchdown greatly bumps normal numbers for a tight end, Top 8 or even the occasional Top 3 game is not necessarily something you can hang your hat on. In the Top 3, we see many of the same players at the top and Boo Williams rises with his higher than average number of very good tight end games. A Top 3 game almost always includes a touchdown or decent yardage.

Top 1 performances by Tight Ends were arrayed almost at one for each with the exception of five tight ends.

Top 1 performances allowed by defenses faced in 2003

Top 1%

Top 1 Gms

Gms
Played

KC

Tony Gonzalez

25%

4

16

DEN

Shannon Sharpe

13%

2

15

NO

Boo Williams

13%

2

15

NYJ

Anthony Becht

13%

2

16

HOU

Billy Miller

13%

2

16

NYG

Jeremy Shockey

11%

1

9

IND

Dallas Clark

10%

1

10

SD

Antonia Gates

10%

1

10

NE

Daniel Graham

8%

1

13

IND

Marcus Pollard

8%

1

13

TB

Ken Dilger

8%

1

13

DET

Mikhael Ricks

7%

1

15

BUF

Mark Campbell

7%

1

15

BAL

Todd Heap

6%

1

16

ATL

Alge Crumpler

6%

1

16

MIA

Randy McMichael

6%

1

16

SEA

Itula Mili

6%

1

16

MIN

Jim Kleinsasser

6%

1

16

SF

Jed Weaver

6%

1

16

Naturally, Gonzalez dominated here with 4 games that were the most that defense gave up all season but beyond him only Shannon Sharpe, Boo Williams, Anthony Becht and Billy Miller managed so much as two.

Tight end is a position where consistency reports likely mean very much and BTA analysis means less given the sparse production by so many and the inconsistency of scoring from game to game.

The lack of players with multiple numbers of Top 1 games reflects how often one tight end has the one big game (think Todd Yoder) and yet rarely does anything else the rest of the season. With Tight End BTA, only pay attention to the top players and even then, understand what you are seeing.